The present invention relates to a liquid supply apparatus configured so that a liquid vessel is fixed on a base, and a liquid nozzle having a supply port for supplying a liquid into the liquid vessel can be moved to a necessary position of the liquid vessel on the X- and Y-axis coordinates.
As a fraction collector for collecting a liquid coming out of a preparative chromatograph column for separating and refining mixed substances or a liquid coming out of a reactor, the following two systems are generally used.
(1) A system in which a receptacle is moved, and a fraction nozzle having a supply port for supplying a liquid into the receptacle is fixed
As this system, there are available a system in which the receptacle is moved in the directions of two axes of X and Y and a turntable system in which the receptacle is moved rotatingly. After every operation, the receptacle is removed after liquid collection and a new receptacle is installed.
(2) A system in which the receptacle is fixed, and the fraction nozzle is moved
As this system, a system in which the fraction nozzle is moved in the directions of two axes of X and Y as disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-140127) is used mainly.
In such a system, the fraction nozzle is guided by guide rails in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and is driven via a ball screw and a timing belt. Also, the fraction nozzle is arranged above the receptacle, and a driving system such as the ball screw and the timing belt is also arranged above or at the side of the receptacle.
In this system as well, after every operation, the receptacle is removed after liquid collection and a new receptacle is installed.
The system in which the receptacle is moved, and the fraction nozzle having the supply port for supplying a liquid into the receptacle is fixed as in the above-described item (1) has an advantage that the pipe for the fraction nozzle is short, but has a problem in that the installation area of the apparatus is large.
On the other hand, the system in which the receptacle is fixed and the fraction nozzle is moved as in the above-described item (2) has an advantage that the installation area of the apparatus is smaller than that in the system of the item (1), but has a problem in that the pipe for the fraction nozzle is long because the fraction nozzle is moved.
In installing the fraction collector at a limited place in a draft chamber or a cleaning box, the system of the item (2) in which the installation area of the apparatus is small, namely, the system in which the receptacle is fixed and the fraction nozzle is moved must be used inevitably.
However, in the case where the system in which the receptacle is fixed and the fraction nozzle is moved as in the item (2) is used, there arises a problem in that the pipe for the fraction nozzle is long because the fraction nozzle is moved as described above. Also, if the apparatus is designed so as to have a small size, when the receptacle is installed or removed, a driving unit for moving the fraction nozzle and the guide rails in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction become a hindrance to the installation or removal work, so that it is difficult to install or remove the receptacle. On the other hand, if the occurrence of this problem is avoided, the size of the apparatus increases.
Also, in the system of the item (2), since the configuration is such that the fraction nozzle is moved, the number of parts increases, resulting in a high cost.